Yes, I am a Sindhi and I am proud to be one. My hometown is Darbelo, in District Nausharo Feroze, Sindh. I am a Singaporean citizen now. I had been a Singaporean for about 2 years now, a Pakistani for about 50 years, a Muslim for over 1400 years, and a Sindhi for over 5000 years. So, who am I? You can see that I have been a Sindhi for such a long time - and that is what I remain today!

Sindhis, all over the world, have been very successful as businessmen, traders, entrepreneurs, professionals and academicians. And yet we don't walk tall! We are mesmerised by the bevy of different cultures, customs, traditions, histories and civilizations all around us. We have forgotten our own heritage, values, virtues, and language.

Perhaps, it is time the past, present and future generations of Sindhis know their marvellous heritage and the facts about their sweet motherland and fatherland.

We are all children of that same mother - the symbol of purity and the epitome of Godliness - the mother Sindh. In her eyes, heart and soul, nobody is a Hindu and nobody is a Muslim. We are all her children - hence, we are all brothers and sisters to each other. I become a little sad and disappointed (and it is very painful) when someone says, "I am a Hindu Sindhi" or that, "I am a Muslim Sindhi." We have been Sindhis and Sindhis we shall remain - alas, as seperate communities.

Saeen Laal Shahbaaz Qalandar

Saeen Laal-u Shahbaaz-u Qalandar is a patron saint of Sindh. His real name was Syed Mohammad Usman and he was born early in the 13th century in Marwand, Iran. When he was twenty years old he was initiated into the Qalandar order. He dressed from then on in beggars clothes in red (laal-u), embraced poverty, wandering throughout Middle East. In 1263, he arrived in Multan, Punjab, where people begged him to stay. He continued his journey south, eventually settling down in Sehwan in southern Sindh, where he breathed his last.

Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai

Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai is not just a paramount poet of Sindh, he is the very soul of Sindh. His poetry transcends all barriers and propels a human soul into a different kind of world - a world where only love, peace, harmony and music dwells. Born in Sindh in the year 1680 A.D. he died in 1788 A.D. But his message and poetry lives. Deathless poetry must be unmatched, in order to survive through the centuries.

Sachal Sarmast

Sindh is a land of Sufis - the mystics, the wanderers - who have spent their entire life in the quest for the truth. Sachal Sarmast was such a sufi - a seeker of truth - born and died at a village called Daraza, in Khairpur District of Sindh. His poetry, his beliefs and his quest for the truth created a furore in the orthodox establishments of sacred Sindh of those days.

Jhuley Lal Asanjo Saeen Uderolal

Uderolal is the triumphant symbol of righteousness, fearlessness and divine benediction. He moved throughout Sind and preached a message of courage. He often traveled on a palla-fish and is therefore portrayed sitting on a fish. In 1020 AD Uderolal left the earthly scene, disappearing into the waters of the same Sindhu from which he had emerged.

Hyder Bakhsh Jatoi : The Lion of Sindh

He devoted his entire life to the well-being and emancipation of the weak and the down-trodden. He had a heart of a lion. When he spoke, the 'roar' could be heard far and wide and shook the very foundation of the mean, tyrranical, and ruthless regimes of those days. It was indeed an honour to me personally, as a young boy of fourteen, to have met him, heard him 'roar,' and followed and supported him in his quest for the rehabilitation, reformation and rejuvenation of our motherland and fatherland, Sindh.

Allama I.I. Kazi

Allama I.I. Kazi, the first Vice Chancellor of the University of Sindh, was a teacher and benefactor to many. As a philosopher and a scholar he had a rare gift of seeing life steadily and seeing it as a whole - the gift which had helped him to become in the words of Plato, "Spectator of all time and all existence."

Sadhu Vaswani Mission

Apart from many charitable and cultural efforts the Sadhu Vaswani Mission has also devoted special efforts to run classes in the Sindhi language. Crash courses in Sindhi are regularly conducted for aspiring learners, and have proved very popular with the younger generation. An increasing number of students have learnt to read and write Sindhi in the original Arabic script, or even in Devnagiri, as an easier alternative.

Sadhu T.L Vaswani

This is a story of a holy man who attended to the common tasks of life as any other ordinary person. Those who met him did not suspect that they stood in the presence of a saint of God. However, the angels knew it. One night, as he was rapt in the ecstasy of communion, the angels visited him and took the dust of his feet.

Dada Jashan P. Vaswani is the spiritual head of Sadhu Vaswani Mission in Pune, India. Dada Jashan is endowed with the gift of oratory and eloquence. He was invited to speak at U.N.O. on Universal Peace and at House of Commons, London, on World Without Wars. He spoke at the World Hindu Conferences in Sri Lanka and USA.

One of the great saints of Sindh saaeen Kanwar Ram was also a great Sufi who had so many followers in Sindh. He was born in Ddhaherki, Sindh. He was a man of God who sang bhajans in praise of his Creator. He also sung, with that sweet beautiful voice the kalaams and kaafees of Shah Latif Bhitai, Sachal Sarmast and other Sufi poets of Jeejal Sindh. His singing always stressed on the Sindhiat and it always reminded us that we are all brothers and sisters in Sindh and not Hindus and Muslims.

He dedicated his whole life for his country and his people. All his years, he was a supporter of the peasants and laborers. He was one of the early leaders of Sindh Peasant Party and for many a years its supporter. Basically, the late Parsram, was not one to lose hope ['aasro ma laaheju'....Shah Bhittai].

As Plato thanked his stars for being born in the age of Socrates, so do we for being born in the age of our great national hero of Sindh, Sain G.M. Sayed. He gave birth to Sindhi nationalism and believed in an idea that Sindh as an independent state is a possibility. He was simple, welcoming, sympathetic, patient and open to others views. The great leader as he was, G.M. Sayed never developed a personality cult as most leaders do. Anyone could meet him at any time.

Ali Ahmed K. Brohi, the author of a comprehensive work on the historical perspectives of the tombstones in Sindh and Baluchistan, "History On Tombstones : Sindh and Baluchistan", was born on 11th November 1920, in Ghariyasin, in Shikarpur district of Sindh.

Joyo ranks as one of the pioneers of what many call 'the renaissance in Sindh.' He is often quoted as, 'an intellectual par excellence' of Sindh. To his fans and followers he is Joyo sahib, to his contemporaries and comrades, 'Joyo', and to his opponents an 'infidel' and 'a hypocrite.'

Ustad Mohammad Yousuf was one of the most respected and talented singers of Sindh. He was excellent singer of 'Kafi'. His voice was so beautiful that the listners were spellbound with his singing.

Madam Amina Khamisani is that illustrious daughter of Mother Sindh, who has painstakingly taken upon herself the gigantic task of translating "Shah Jo Risalo" from Sindhi language into simple English. She successfully completed this project in 1992. One of my friend from Singapore, who went to Sindh, on a holiday, came back with a copy of Madam Khamisani's book, "Risalo of Shah Abdul Latif : Translated In Verse".

When Zarina Baloch sings, you must listen. There is little choice as you loose yourself to the timeless appeal of her voice. Her voice, you sense, has been wafting down the centuries over the arid landscape of tiny hamlets in Sindh, lifted on the cool breeze caressing the sand dunes of thar, rippling over the coastal waters, even as it blends with the song of the fishermen.

Dr Feroz Ahmed was widely respected at national and international level for his profound scholarship, pioneering research on demographic and social subjects, and political activism against dictatorship and social injustice.

Contemporary Sindhi Poetry is dominated by the giant figure of Shaikh Ayaz, whose distinct voice came into his own in the post-independence days. In a graceful and polished style and powerful diction, Ayaz wrote of Sindh's aspirations and predilections and soon emerged as the poetic conscience of his land.

The Darling Of Piyaro Ggoth

Dadi Leela : Lessons Not Lost

Annemarie Schimmel: Quenching the Spiritual Thirst
In February 1958, Dr Annemarie Schimmel made her first trip to Sindh. Recently she visited the land of Sufis once again. The series of lectures there commemorated the fortieth anniversary of her first visit, a sort of 'spiritual birthday party', as she described it.

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Mirza Kalich Beg

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Ernest Trumpp

Indian Instiute Of Sindhology